title: Canterbury Health, Ageing and Life Course (CHALICE) study: rationale, design and methodology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  New Zealand's ageing population threatens the financial sustainability of our current model of health service delivery. The Canterbury Health, Ageing and Life Course (CHALICE) study aims to develop a comprehensive and flexible database of important determinants of health to inform new models. This paper describes the design, methodology, and first 300 participants of CHALICE.
  
  
  METHODS
  Commencing August 2010, CHALICE is a multidisciplinary prospective random cohort study and biobank of 1,000 Canterbury adults aged 49-51 years at inception, stratified by self-identified Maori (n=200) and non-Maori (n=800) ethnicity. Assessment covers sociodemographic, physical, cognition, mental health, clinical history, family and social, cardiovascular, and lifestyle domains. Detailed follow-up assessment occurs every 5 years, with a brief postal follow-up assessment undertaken annually.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For the first 300 participants (44 Maori, 256 non-Maori), the participation rate is 63.7%. Overall, 53.3% of participants are female, 75.3% are living in married or de facto relationships, and 19.0% have university degrees. These sociodemographic profiles are comparable with the 2006 Census, Canterbury region, 50-54 years age group percentages (50.7%, 77.2%, and 14.3%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CHALICE has been designed to provide quality data that will inform policy development and programme implementation across a broad spectrum of health indicators.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. philip.schluter@canterbury.ac.nz
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Schluter
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Spittlehouse
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gearry
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Jamieson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lacey
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Murdoch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.forename: P M L
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Skidmore
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troughton
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vierck
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Joyce
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012107:Research Design; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors